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milkcarton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Well-written characters with flaws that weren't an obnoxious trait to justify being an asshole. Filled with cute moments that make you kick your feet and squeal. To moments of pure rage, anger, and deep emphathy that made me cry endlessly for their pain.
I don't know what other people rate it, but for me it had a little bit of everything.
<3<3<3<3 much love for the characters, book, and author
Moderate: Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Bullying, Gaslighting, Grief, Death, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny
ricelatte's review
Unfortunately, one of the CW's that are listed at the start in this book hit a little too close to home for me. The CW was given at the very start of the book, before the first chapter, and I personally chose to try the book out anyways. This was my choice and I do not regret it. However, I still decided to DNF this one for my own personal reasons. But I will be looking for another book by Sajni Patel to read.
Update: just rented 'First Love, Take Two' and I'm excited to start it soon.
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Misogyny
Minor: Bullying and Death of parent
mo_za11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Moderate: Bullying, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
daisycantread24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse
aesantiago's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexism, Violence, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny
aliciachauhan_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Medical content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
fnutor's review against another edition
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Bullying
thefatpaperback's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence
Minor: Sexual content
brokenbodybitch's review against another edition
4.25
The romance in this book is pretty good, the chemistry between the characters is definitely well written and at times, they do questionable things but generally there is some reasoning (in this book the reason is very often a trauma response or something related to fears and trauma) that makes it so you can still root for the MC or LI. I really enjoy how you can tell their upbringing and what they went through up till now really motivated their actions and often times, you can see the bouncing ball of oh well this is because of this and stuff like that you aren’t left wondering what possessed them to do whatever they did.
I am not south Asian so I can’t speak on the accuracy or quality of the rep but I think the family dynamics in this book were really well done, yes don’t get me wrong a lot of the family was just straight up insufferable and I would gladly like to clock her dad in the face, however the dynamics and relationships between characters felt very real and they stayed true throught the book. I find when some authors try to write family dynamics with generational trauma and abuse and heavier more complicated things like that they will sometimes have these happy endings that while nice, ultimately don’t seem all that realistic, where as in this book her father is vile her entire childhood (for whatever reasons) and he didn’t have this seemingly instant magical turn around, his actions lined up with how his character had been set up from the beginning, and that was with all the characters I can think of.
I really enjoyed this book, yes it is a romance but it also deals with trauma from many many different angles as well as having South Asian representation. At times it reads a little more like a YA/NA romance but all in all, the characters have clear and developed backstories and it deals with trauma from so many sides that it felt like it had another purpose beyond the romance.
Extra CW/TW:
The biggest ones to be aware of are SA between an adult and minor, being told you are lying about it and other horrible things along those lines by many people but especially parental figures, and the trauma that goes along with SA, in particular childhood SA. It is handled fairly well by the end of the book and does have a positive ending but it can be very heavy at times; and I can’t speak on childhood SA but from a general SA trauma perspective it was pretty accurately portrayed. Again I’m not the authority on this, but I don’t think it is harmful rep by any means just very possibly triggering for someone with those potential triggers. It’s not a bad book I don’t think, just be very cautious going into it
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Alcohol and Domestic abuse
bandysbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Grief, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault